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Early language learning

There is a growing trend across Europe to begin language learning in early primary or even in kindergarten. Teaching languages to young children requires combining the general skills needed for this age group and specific language teaching approaches. The language aspects must be associated with children’s cognitive and emotional development as well as their early experiences of learning together in social groups.

Introduction

In recent years a considerable body of research has been conducted which confirms the value of early language learning, but also points to difficulties and challenges. If teachers are to provide optimal support for early language acquisition processes, the importance of quality pre and in-service teacher education is paramount.

The ECML offers a range of support materials and training modules to ensure that appropriate pedagogies, based on plurilingual and intercultural approaches, are embedded from the very beginning. These approaches also emphasise the use of active, communicative and interactive teaching methods and new technologies. They encourage cooperation with parents as home-school partnerships can strongly support the learning process and foster favourable attitudes toward other languages and other cultures. Collaboration between class teachers, language specialists and teachers of other subjects is also promoted.

The benefits of early language learning

There is a good fit between the methodology used in active, communicative language teaching and the ludic approach used in nursery schools and the early years of primary.

Younger children are at a stage in their development where they are open to new phenomena and motivation to learn is very high.

Children enjoy learning a new language and are receptive to it; they are less self-conscious than older learners and therefore may be more able to absorb language rather than block it out.

They are in the phase of "natural" language acquisition, particularly between the ages of 2 and 4 where the brain is in a critical phase in relation to natural language learning; for example, they have the propensity to pick up good pronunciation easily.

Starting early helps sensitize children to "otherness" and to the introduction of plurilingual and intercultural education from a very young age.

It also contributes to language awareness and supports the development not only of a second, but also of the first language of the child. It enhances cognitive growth through communicative activities which help to develop linguistic skills as well as memory and concentration.

It supports the social and emotional development of the child by means of motivating tasks in pair and group work.

Moreover, there are pragmatic, curriculum-related reasons for starting early such as:

It makes it possible to lower the age at which students start to learn another second or foreign language.

Time gained through early language learning provides space for other requirements of schooling.

What are the challenges faced when introducing a programme of early language learning?

Introducing early language learning programmes raises a number of issues:

How sustainable are the language competences acquired in early language learning? Are they maintained when children begin with more formal methods? Is there a risk that teachers start again from the beginning, and that children lose the early enthusiasm?

How do schools meet the needs of their learners when some will have started early whilst others have not?

What skills are required by those teaching languages to young learners? What kind of training do they need? Should there be specific qualifications?

What are the specific language learning outcomes of early language learning? Can CEFRdescriptors be used? What quality criteria can be used to assess early language learning?

These are issues which require further research and exploration.

How the work of the ECML contributes to early language learning

A variety of ECML projects provide support for the development of professional competences in this area. The project European Portfolio for Pre-primary Educators (PEPELINO) provides a comprehensive catalogue of competences required by teachers of young learners. Other projects provide examples of classroom activities suitable for young learners.

Increasingly in primary schools a language is taught using a CLIL approach – young learners use the foreign language to learn the content of other subjects. This approach can be found in the EPLC project (available in French and German).

Early language learning is intrinsically linked to plurilingual and intercultural approaches. Several ECML projects (CONBAT+, PLURIMOBIL etc.) provide a variety of classroom activities to support learning in these areas.

The ECML project AYLITT considers how reading and writing can be assessed in the primary language classroom linked to the Common European Framework of Reference.

Think Tank: Early language learning

From 1-2 December 2016 a Think Tank was held at the ECML on this topic. An online questionnaire identified key challenges as well as examples of innovative practice. Presentations held at the conference can be downloaded here.

Featured resources

European portfolio for pre-primary educators. The plurilingual and intercultural dimension

This portfolio is designed for educators and teachers in the pre-primary sector, either in initial or in-service training. It encourages personal reflection on the professional skills related to the linguistic and intercultural dimension of working with children.

Current projects

Inspiring language learning and teaching in the early years
This project aims to help teachers and other educators prepare young children to successfully face the challenges of a culturally and linguistically diverse world. It will provide them with learning and teaching resources and strategies which take existing linguistic repertoires into account in order to (further) develop the linguistic and intercultural competences of both learners and educators.View project pages

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In the webinar on the European Commission’s School Education Gateway Sarah Breslin, Executive Director of the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, made a presentation on language learning and highlighted the benefits of language diversity in education.

Gro Caspersen, teacher in the Danish public school, presented language learning in practice through the "Wise Words" project, which has received the European Language Label, meaning it has contributed substantially to the promotion of innovative language teaching and learning, throughout all Europe.

On 22 May 2018 the European Commission adopted a set of proposed Council Recommendations and other policy documents under the headline “Building a stronger Europe: the role of youth, education and culture policies”. The press communication and the Recommendation on a comprehensive approach to language teaching and learning, together with its annex and Staff Working Document, which provides the scientific background for the Recommendation, as well as many examples of good practice are all now available online.

The "Proposal for a Council Recommendation on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages" and its Annex about "Language Awareness in Schools – developing comprehensive approaches to language learning" are available in all official EU languages in theEurLex database.

The educational landscape of Europe continues to change. An increasing number of teachers and educators find themselves in multilingual classrooms where the language of schooling, or a version of it, is but one means of communication used by their pupils. How can all participants in the learning process negotiate and create educational capital from this ongoing situation? This is one of the main questions of the project “Inspiring language learning in the early years – why it matters and what it looks like for children age 3 to 12“.

This project, established by the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe, aims to enable professionals to utilize the full range of their own linguistic repertoires while facilitating the use and development of those of their pupils. This can be done while they continue to use existing pedagogies, approaches and tools in their particular contexts. Innovative practice that will be accessible to teachers and educators for use and/or adaptation in their own settings will also be explored. The project affirms the significance of pupils’ linguistic repertoires as the conduit through which they experience the world. At the core of learners’ existing knowledge, these language skills are a crucial resource in the learning process, as a basis for acquiring new languages – including the language of schooling, developing plurilingual skills and assisting learning in general. In this way, opportunities inherent in linguistically diverse classrooms can be harnessed and used for the benefit of all pupils.

Details and developments can be found on the project’s user-friendly website at www.ecml.at/inspiringearlylearning. Those involved in early-years education, at whatever level, can find evidence here of good practice and a variety of teaching and learning tools to develop learners’ language competence.

A workshop will be held at the ECML in Graz on 12th and 13th September 2018. Those interested in participating in the project workshop can apply for nomination through the ECML Nominating Authority in their country.